State Auditor: Governor’s fraud prevention workgroup an important step

State Auditor Pat McCarthy today offered support for Governor Bob Ferguson’s newly created position of Chief Fraud Prevention Officer and a fraud prevention workgroup for state agencies, calling them positive additions to the state’s accountability work.  

“A loss of public resources anywhere diminishes the public’s trust in government overall. I applaud the governor’s efforts to improve fraud prevention and detection,” said State Auditor Pat McCarthy. “Earlier this year I created a director-level Special Investigations division because, like the governor, I believe fraud prevention efforts need to be elevated across government.” 

In fiscal year 2025, the State Auditor’s Office conducted 54 percent more fraud investigations and documented a more than 300 percent increase in the amount of public funds lost, to $2.3 million, as compared to the previous three-year average.  

“The single best defense against fraud is a strong set of checks and balances inside government programs,” said McCarthy. “In recent years, both my office and others have identified too many programs launched without the proper controls in place and too many governments giving unchecked authority to a single person, leading to losses, questioned costs and fewer services available.”  

Since launching a new training program in 2024 for local governments focused on improving internal controls, the Office has conducted 21 of the workshops, attended by representatives of about 150 local governments from around the state.  

McCarthy also noted that responsibility for investigating fraud, waste and abuse of public funds extends to multiple state agencies, and various divisions within those agencies.  

“We take our role as the state’s independent auditor of public accounts seriously,” said McCarthy. “And we know that the responsibility for protecting public resources is shared across the larger accountability community, from the state agencies the governor has brought together, to clerks in small towns across Washington.” 

In addition to in-person workshops, the State Auditor’s Office provides several resources on fraud prevention, such as “Trust, but Verify.” 

Members of the public with concerns about possible losses of public funds can contact the State Auditor’s Office Citizen Hotline at sao.wa.gov.  

Media inquiries: Assistant Director of Communications Adam Wilson, Adam.Wilson@sao.wa.gov, 564-999-0799.